Edmond Tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was only a matter of time before Leah Edmond, who currently leads all Southeastern Conference freshmen in kills and kills per set, would haul in the league’s weekly honor for Freshman of the Week. Edmond was tabbed the conference’s top-performing first-year player on Monday to mark the first such honor of the season for the Lexington, Kentucky, native.
Edmond has been sensational offensively for the Wildcats through nine matches this season in which she leads the team with an average of 3.70 kills per set. This week at the Bluegrass Battle, she also asserted her presence defensively to help UK to a 2-1 record with wins over Virginia and Saint Louis.
The 6-foot-2 outside hitter once again led the team in kills with a trio of 10+ kill performances, but she also registered a pair of double-doubles for the first time in her young career. In Friday’s loss to Marquette, Edmond posted 17 kills, just three shy of a career best, and broke out for a career-high 10 digs. Entering the weekend, she had registered just one dig in six combined matches.
She was just getting started, however.
Against Virginia in a three-set victory for UK, Edmond put together her most complete performance of the season. She led the team with 11 kills, notched seven digs and then added a career-best seven blocks as UK posted 16 total blocks as a unit. Edmond followed that performance with 11 more kills in the win over Saint Louis that evening. She picked up her second career double-double as she added 10 digs and then she also contributed five rejections.
For the weekend, Edmond averaged 3.90 kills per set, 2.70 digs and 1.20 blocks per frame. She logged a team-high 4.60 points per set and utilized an efficient .243 attacking percentage on 107 attempts.
She has posted double-figure kills in all but one match this season for the Wildcats and led the team in that category in all nine matches. She currently ranks sixth overall in kills per set among all players in the SEC and she’s first in that category among freshman with 3.70 per frame.
Edmond is the second player to earn a weekly distinction from the SEC this season. Junior libero Ashley Dusek earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Week honor following the opening weekend of the season.
UK will return to action with the final two non-conference matches of the season this week beginning at Louisville on Thursday. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. in the KFC Yum! Center. UK will wrap-up action for the week at home on Saturday as it welcomes Lipscomb for a 7:30 p.m. tilt.
Single-match and season tickets for the 2015 season are on sale now. Season tickets begin at $35, and single-match ticket information can be found here. More information on how to buy tickets can be found here or by calling the UK Ticket Office at 800-928-CATS.
